Gazunk - [Fearsome Critter]

• About this critter: A song bird likely named in frustration about the awful racket which it makes outside of campsites at night... it plays an unpleasant flute-like tune, for one reason or another it has holes drilled into its beak, which it allows it to play it just like a flute; unfortunately these birds are largely total amateurs & usually sound entirely off key! (Except during the mating season when they miraculously play like a musician...) As it breathes: inhaling and exhaling, It constantly lets out irritating, sharp, flat toots which resound throughout the woods, it might sound like ghostly whaling or like a person whistling, causing panic among naive tender-footed campers...

• History:  Another critter first recorded in 1922's "Yarns of the Bigwoods" by North Wisconsin Game Warden; Art Childs; who published illustrations and short stories based off his experiences to newspapers in the 1920's – The Gazunk (or Flutebill) was the 2nd earliest critter's story he told, it goes as follows:

"The Gazunk.
    When night steals over the Big Woods, the cry of a prowling bird sounds like a ghostly wail, and the crackling of a small twig resembles the sharp rapport of a revolver. The brush of a fluttering leap across his cheek brings the “greenhorn” to his feet with a startled cry.
    It is then, as they sit about the campfire, the old guides like to spin the yearns that have been handed down by generations of their predecessors. 
    “What is that?” exclaims a tenderfoot hoarsely, as one of the many strange sounds of the night strikes his ear.” “It sounds like some one whistling away off in the distance.”
    “Why that,” explains the twinkling-eyed old-timer, “must be the Gazunk, or flute-bill bird. When the Gazunk was a young bird, he went to sleep in a tree and a woodpecker, by mistake, drilled some holes in his long bill. Of course, it made him sore, until he found he could play on his bill like a flute, using his claws as stops. It almost tickled him to death. So now he goes around playing like that all night. Listen! Just strain your ears a bit. Yep, sure enough, that's the Gazunk.”

[The Gazunk article appears in the leader post July 26 1922- amusingly, along side another article about kiwibirds. (if you where unable to google it, could you guess which one was real?)]

 [Further 'Gazunk lore" which was later submitted to "Tenderfoot Tales" via readers of the Idaho Sunday. Dec 3 1922. - it lists a few ways for campers to capture or hunt this mysterious bird as well as gives a couple alternate 'beak-hole origins' (rather than the standard woodpecker explanation.) – This tidbit of 'lore' is often overlooked as its 'technically' reader submitted. (ie; Not written by Art Childs as the above was.) - but perhaps worth note to my dear readers is that it also introduces two other singing, presumably bird-like critters; namely "the catbird" and "the jaywalker"  (its quite amusing if nothing else) 🤭]

This critter is very similar to tree-squeak in that it is yet another anthropomorphized audio phenomenon & technically another critter with a man made object embeded into its (un)natural anatomy. - do note the similarities between this one and Art Childs take on the swamp-auger as well! - one might also like to look back on Art Child's: Accordianteater, Calipode. as well as the Tree-hopper.) - The phenomenon of something 'mimicing screaming' or voices in the woods (but actually being an animal) is a pretty common horror trope in north American lore and elsewhere (that's not quite what this is though it feels similar.) – In this case, perhaps beyond the beak it is the birds unnaturally flexible feet which are the 'most unnatural' part about it. (the OG story does say it was just 'a young, normal bird' until the woodpecker got at it.) - anyway, I drew mine with a literal flute beak because the plan beak felt a bit 'ho-hum & ironically I hadn't seen it done yet... Perhaps it's a female variety.

...Not much more to say!

[Art Sticker by SamKalensky part of my Fearsome Critters collection of stickers, Thank you to my Patrons for ongoing your support! <3 ]